Coal India Ltd (CIL) was able to achieve 91 per cent of its targeted production of 660 million tonnes (mt) in 2019-20.
According to the provisional production and offtake performance numbers shared by CIL to the stock exchanges on Wednesday, it has closed 2019-20 with an annual production of 602.14 mt, which was marginally lower than 606.89 mt of coal produced in FY19.
As per its MoU with the Coal Ministry during the beginning of FY20, CIL had envisaged an 8.5 per cent growth in production. This was higher than the 7 per cent growth that it had clocked during the previous fiscal taking its total annual production to 606.89 mt.
During the January-March 2020 quarter, the country’s largest coal miner recorded close to 10 per cent growth in production to 213.71 mt, against 194.45 mt in the same period last year. CIL registered a 6.5 per cent growth in production at 84.36 mt in March, compared with 79.19 mt in the same period last year.
“After the company’s production was severely impeded on account of excess and prolonged monsoon during the first half of the fiscal, we could recover much of the lost ground in the second half,” a company official said in a press release.
The company produced 120.28 mt more coal in the second half of the current fiscal than it did in the first half. Against a production of 240.93 mt during April-September 2019, CIL produced 361.21 mt in October 2019 to March 2020, the release said.
The lower production in FY20 is notwithstanding the fact that two of its subsidiaries — Northern Coalfields and Western Coalfields — surpassed their respective annual production targets for the year, achieving 102 per cent and 103 per cent of their respective targets. While NCL produced 108.05 mt for the fiscal, WCL’s output was 57.64 mt.
SECL witnessed a production decline of over 4 per cent at 150.55 mt (157.35 mt) during the year under review, while MCL’s production declined by nearly 3 per cent to 140.36 mt (144.15 mt).
Offtake dips
During FY20, CIL’s offtake was down by a little over 4 per cent to 581.73 mt as against 608.14 mt in the same period last year.
Thermal power plants are flush with coal stocks of close to 44.68 mt, which is sufficient for 28 days. Many of the thermal plants have requested CIL to regulate coal supplies to then.
“Importantly, not a single coal fired power plant in the country is in critical or super-critical condition for want of coal on March 31,” the release said.
Besides ensuring steady supply to the power sector, CIL liquidated around 91 per cent of its 5,143 arrear rakes to non-power sector consumers pertaining to years 2017-18 and 2018-19. It has also cleared 4,660 backlog rakes during the fiscal.
Coal India's pithead stock stands at close to 74.56 mt, a comfortable buffer for the ensuing summer months.
“The combined coal stock of 119.24 mt at power plants and at pitheads of CIL is highest ever dispelling any notions of coal shortage in the near future,” the release said.